I'm confused

I don't get it.  I think of satellite dishes the same way I think of trash cans.  Yes, you have to have them, but they aren't much to look at, so hide them away. 

A satellite dish on the front lawn?  Down at ground level?  Next to the sidewalk? 

Aside from questionable aesthetics, do the little boogers work when filled with leaves in the fall?  How about when covered by snow in the winter?

Sigh.